The Temple of Solomon Portrayed, History · Chapter 9 · Section 3 · Part 1
Of the Ark.
*Lightfoot Temp. p. 261Before we ſpeak expreſly to its Myſtery, let us conſider the place where it was made, and how it was removed providentially from place to place, till at laſt it was fixed in this glorious Temple.
Moſes the man of God did make and frame it in the wilderneſſe of Sinai, where the Iſraelites Camped before the(y)Exod. 19.2. Mount of Horeb. For we read that the Tabernacle was reared up on the(z)Exod. 40.17. firſt day of the firſt month of the ſecond year of their Exodus, of coming out of Egypt; and further that on the(a)Num. 10.11, 12. 20th day of the ſecond month of the ſame year they departed from that place: After which time the Ark marched along with them from ſtation to ſtation, till at laſt it was ſet down at(b)Joſ. 5.10. Gilgal, for there the Children of Iſrael kept the Paſſeover the 14th day of the MonethMonth at Even in the Plains of Jericho: a City of the Benjamites, that ſtood betwixt Jericho and the River Jordan, and is accounted by(c)Tom. 3. ad finem de locis Hebr. p. 16. lin. 3. edit praefat. Jerom to be ſituate two miles Eaſt of Jericho. After the Land was ſubdued, the Tabernacle of the Congregation was ſet up at(d)Joſ. 18.2. Shiloh, a City of the Tribe of Ephraim, which the forecited(e)Pag. 24. lin. 19. Father places at the diſtance of 10 miles from Neapolis or Shechem in the ſame Tribe. We read of the Ark's being afterward at Shechem, Joſh. 24.1, 25, 26. and after that, at Mizpeh, Judg. 11.11. & 20.1, 27. & 21.1, 2. Whereby it ſhould ſeem that the Ark might be occaſionally transferred from place to place, though its ordinary reſidence was in the Tabernacle at Shiloh: which place the forecited Jew in his Itinerary, pag. 50. fixes at the diſtance of three Paraſangs from Gibeah, (and from thence three more to Beth Nob) and further, that it was but two Paraſangs or eight miles from Jeruſalem. (f)1 Sam. 4.1, 3.From this Shiloh, in the daies of Samuel, the Ark was fetcht out of the Tabernacle into the field, againſt the Philistines at Eben-Ezer, near Mizpeh in the Tribe of Benjamin; and as far as yet appears to me, never came within the ancient Tabernacle again: which poſſibly was tranſlated to Nob, a City of the Prieſts, as may be ſeen by comparing(g)1 Sam. 21.1, 4, 9. c. 22. ver. 11, 19. ſeveral verſes of Scripture: which may be conceived near Anathoth, as named next in the regiſter of ſome of the Cities of Benjamin in(h)Neh. 11.32. Nehemiah, and it ſtood as ſome think here in the time of King Saul. From hence the Tabernacle was transferred to Gibeon, another City of Benjamin, which was 40 Stadia or Furlongs from Jeruſalem, as Joſephus atteſt, pag. 238. or at the furtheſt at 50. if ſo be that be the ſame place with the former, which is mentioned by the ſame Author, pag. 818. But when and from whence it was carryed thither it doth not fully appear; but that it was here in the daies of King David and the beginning of Solomon is(i)1 Kin. 3.4. 1 Chr. 16.39. & 21.29. 2 Chr. 1.3. plain and evident out of the ſacred books, till it was(k)2 Chr. 5.5. brought up to Jeruſalem. But the Ark ſteered another courſe, by the ſpecial guidance of God: For the Philiſtins having overthrown the Iſraelites in Battel, took the Ark of the Covenant, and carried it from Eben-Ezer to(l)1 Sam. 5.1. Aſhd…d, thence to(m)ver. 8. Gath, thence to(n)ver. 10. Ekron, and having continued ſeven Months in the Land of the Philistius, it was ſent home to(o)1 Sam. 6.12. Bethſhemeſh in the Tribe of Judah, thence to Kiriath jearim in the ſame Tribe, called alſo(p)Joſ. 15.60. & 18.14. Kiriath-Baal, to the houſe of(q)1 Sam. 7.1, 2. Abinadab in the hill, and the…e it continued twenty years. This place is called(r)2 Sam. 6.2. Baaleh of Judah, and the houſe of Abinadab that was in(ſ)ver. 3.4. Gibeah, or in the hill; which Joſephus reports to have been at the diſtance of fifty stadiae or furlongs from Jeruſalem the Head-City, pag. 907. Indeed we find one City of Judah to be called(t)Joſh. 15.57. Gibeah, and I ſuppoſe it to be the ſame exactly with(u)Joſh. 15.9. 1 Chron. 13.5, 6. Kiriath Baal or Kiriath jearim, called Gibeah from its hilly ſituation: although(x)Vol. 3. p. 14, Weemſe would have it a Miſtake in the Tranſlation, wherein an Apellative is made a Proper Name: But ſeeing as I ſaid, we find a City of Judah, in the book of Joſhua, called Gibeah; poſſibly this place might have two Names. However that be, it's clear that the place was Kiriath-jearim, which(y)Ibid. p. 10. lin. 18. Jerom in his Catalogue of Hebrew places, fixes but at 1 Mile diſtance from Jeruſalem, in the way to Dioſpolis or Lydda. From this Kiriath-jearim it was brought to(z)2 Sam. 6.6. Nachon's threſhing-floor, otherwiſe called(a)1 Chr. 13.9. Chidon, where Uzza was ſmitten, and the place therefore called by David Perez-Uzza, and then it diverted to the houſe of(b)2 Sam. 6.10. Ver. 11. Obed-Edom, probably in the borders of the ſame City, and there it ſtaied three months; and thence at laſt it was brought to the(c)Ver. 12. & 1 Chr. 15.29. & 16.1. City of David at(d)2 Sam. 5.7. Mount Zion in Jeruſalem, about the third year of his reigne over all Iſrael, and in the tenth alter his Unction at Hebron, it being a Sabbatical year, as the(e)Uſher Annal p. 52 learned Primate conceivs: and there it continued the reſidue of his Reigne in Zion, that is about thirty years, and in the eleventh of King Solomon's, when the Temple was fully finiſht, it was brought(f)1 Kin. 8.1. 2 Chr. 5.2. from the City of David, in a moſt ſolemn manner, into the glorious Oracle or Holy of Holies.
Having traced the Arks motions from place to place till it came to reſt in Moriah's ſacred Mountain, let me cra…e leave to add a few words about that kind of wood whereof it was made.
(g)Gregor. Lexi…. ſanct. p. 401.Some would have it to be a kind of excellent Cedar, whoſe wood will not putrify, and is the ſmootheſt of all other ſor…s, excelling in ſtrength, ſolidity, ſhining, and beauty. Others a kind(h)Avenari' of Thorn, not ſubject to putrefaction. It ſeems indeed to have been of a very durable nature by its continuation from Moſes to Solomon, and thence to the captivity, about 900 years. Others, take it to be [foreign mentioned by Dioſcorides de med. mater. cap. 74.] the Pitch-Tree; others, the Box. It could not be the ordinary and common Cedar, nor Pine, nor Box, nor Myrtle: for it is reckoned among them as a diſtinct ſpecies, under the name of the Schittah-Tree, by the Prophet(i)Iſa. 41.18. Iſaiah. Jerom, in his Comment upon Eſay, ſaies it was a Tree like to the white-Thorn for colour and leaves but not for magnitude. That it was the ſame Tree which(k)Lib. 2. Diodorus calls the foreign I dare not affirm, which he reports to have grown in that part of Arabia which the Nabathaeans dwelt in, that is, the poſterity of Nebaioth, ſo called in Scripture, whom(l)l. 12. c. 17. Pliny alſo placeth as borderers upon Syria. Yet truly, by the Balſame and Palmes which Diodorus reckons up to grow in that Country: it ſeems ſomewhat probable that it was the place whereabout Moſes was, at the erection of the Tabernacle. It is obſervable to this purpoſe, that the(m)Exod. 3.3. Buſh wherein God appeared to Moſes was in the ſame Mount where afterwards (near to it) the encamping of the Iſraelites was fixed, at the making of the ſeveral Veſſels of the Tabernacle. Though by ſome it is thought to be a(n)Talmudiſts in Schindler. Thorn that bore Roſes: by others, a white-Thorn: and a Bramble, by others: Yet(o)Lib. 16. p. 767 edit. Caſaub. Strabo, out of Eratoſthenes, tells us, that no other Trees grew in that North part of Arabia, but a few Dates, the Tamarisk, and the foreign or a certain prickly Thorn: which probably was the foreign Sineh or Buſh of Moſes, which might be the ſame which is turned in Diodorus by foreign, and by ſome counted to be a ſort of ſharp prickly Cedar, and thought to be the Schittim wood whereof this Ark was made.(p)Mar. 12.20. Act. 7.30. Our bleſſed Lord, and the Proto-martyr Stephen, following the 70, call it foreign, and this might be the ſame Tree, in a low and ſhrubby ſtate upon ſo dry and ſtony a place … Bellonius in his Obſervations when travelling that Country, ſaies there was but one ſort of Thorn in all Syria: which is ſince brought over into England, and nurſed in Noblemens Gardens with us, if it be the right, and termed Our Lord's Thorn. If it ſhould be the ſame Tree with Moſes his Buſh, it is very worthy our note to remember the Churches preſervation in all the flames of trouble and perſecution, to have bin managed by God's preſence in the Ark in the midſt of them. Indeed the Septuagint tranſlate theſe Shittim Trees by foreign, of the Tree Thya, by(q)L. 5. c. 5. Theophraſtus deſcribed to be tall, ever green, like the Cypreſſe, of a ſolid and ſweet ſented wood, ſmelling like Cedar, and not eaſily corrupted: Of which Homer ſpeaks, when he tells us of Calipſo's Iſland that there was a fire Odyſſ. 5.—foreign, That ſmelt of Thus all over the Iſland, whereof(r)l. 12. c. 14. Pliny treats at large. But to let that paſſe; whether the Schittah-Tree were odorous or not, is not mentioned, neither is it affirmed of the Arabian Schinus; which although ſome do not think to be this wood of ours, yet their reaſon drawn from a report that it was not tall and big, is refuted by(ſ)Cap. 18. Lemnius in his Hiſtory of Scripture Plants, where he ſaies, It was, patula & ſatis procera, ſpreading to a good height; and yet this laſt Author conceives it was the(t)Pag. 76. Citrus, alluding therein to the Hebrew name. But if there were no Trees growing in thoſe Deſerts of Arabia, where Moſes then was, but onelyonly the three forementioned, according to the Teſtimony of Strabo, it ſeems moſt probable that it was that prickly Tree: ſeeing it was neither Tamarisk nor Date: the name whereof, mentioned by Diodorus alluding to the Hebrew, may yield ſome light. I know ſome count it to have been made of a wood that was brought with them out of Egypt, becauſe the Text ſaies, that every man with whom was(u)Exod. 35.24. found Shittim wood, brought it for the ſervice of the Tabernacle: but that doth not follow, that this wood did not grow in the wilderneſſe, where they offered it for the ſervice of the Tabernacle, becauſe the Text ſaies it was found with them.
But indeed it doth not appear clearly and directly what ſort of wood it was, and therefore we ſhall ſuſpend any peremptory aſſertion, and proceed to the Myſteries of this excellent and rare Ornament of the Oracle.